https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/...he-problem

I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

(12-21-2017 02:00 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

I agree. If we withdrawl our money from the region, they will battle and there will ultimately be winners and losers. We then deal with the winners.

(12-21-2017 02:14 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:00 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

I agree. If we withdrawl our money from the region, they will battle and there will ultimately be winners and losers. We then deal with the winners.

We really don't need their oil any more with fracking. India and Japan and Korea and China do. And it will be interesting to see how they would deal with our withdrawal. Peter Zeihan has been getting to this in some of his recent speeches.

India has the advantage of being closest to the Mideast. Japan has an advantage in that trade routes to Japan can pretty much skirt the area that China can control with its current military, including Navy. China and Korea could get very interesting.

(12-21-2017 02:55 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:14 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:00 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

I agree. If we withdrawl our money from the region, they will battle and there will ultimately be winners and losers. We then deal with the winners.

We really don't need their oil any more with fracking. India and Japan and Korea and China do. And it will be interesting to see how they would deal with our withdrawal. Peter Zeihan has been getting to this in some of his recent speeches.

India has the advantage of being closest to the Mideast. Japan has an advantage in that trade routes to Japan can pretty much skirt the area that China can control with its current military, including Navy. China and Korea could get very interesting.

What is it now, maybe of the oil we buy abroad maybe 10% is Middle East? Anymore we are net exporter of energy.

What happened? A year or two ago most of the people on this board seemed to think we needed to throw another 50,000 troops into Iraq to fight ISIS. Now it's okay to be hands off? It was Obama that got most of our forces out of there - forces that were there because of Bush. Trump is just continuing what Obama was doing, because it was working.

(12-21-2017 03:29 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  What happened? A year or two ago most of the people on this board seemed to think we needed to throw another 50,000 troops into Iraq to fight ISIS. Now it's okay to be hands off? It was Obama that got most of our forces out of there - forces that were there because of Bush. Trump is just continuing what Obama was doing, because it was working.

Did you just wake up from a coma?

The Caliphate has been squashed the last several months. ISIS in no longer in Iraq and practically defeated in Syria. The situation today could not be more different than a year ago.

The issue now is a Shiite vs Sunni war that is about to explode between Saudi Arabia and Iran with Putin right in the middle.

(12-21-2017 02:55 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:14 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:00 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

I agree. If we withdrawl our money from the region, they will battle and there will ultimately be winners and losers. We then deal with the winners.

We really don't need their oil any more with fracking. India and Japan and Korea and China do. And it will be interesting to see how they would deal with our withdrawal. Peter Zeihan has been getting to this in some of his recent speeches.

India has the advantage of being closest to the Mideast. Japan has an advantage in that trade routes to Japan can pretty much skirt the area that China can control with its current military, including Navy. China and Korea could get very interesting.

Been saying this for awhile. The Cold War forced our hand to create pawns across the world. Otherwise, I think the U.S. would have always been more than happy with keeping ME relationships to trade only and to live and let live. Radical Muslims would have most likely never became a threat until the U.S. had to respond to Soviet aggressiveness.

(12-21-2017 02:14 PM)EverRespect Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 02:00 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  I think the best thing we can do is just leave them alone. Stop wasting soldiers and treasure in that Godforsaken place.

I agree. If we withdrawl our money from the region, they will battle and there will ultimately be winners and losers. We then deal with the winners.

Maybe we'll get lucky, there'll be an upset, and the JV team will win.